A recent episode of the ThoughtCrime podcast set conservatives on X abuzz.
The spark that lit the flame: conservative firebrand Jack Posobiec declaring that J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” is not only not Christian, but in fact “overtly pagan.”
Tolkien has returned to mainstream conversation after reports that the Trump Derangement Syndrome patient and former comedian, Stephen Colbert, is helping develop a new Middle-earth film with Peter Jackson’s team.
Posobiec, no stranger to controversial takes, made the following case:
‘Narnia’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ were, you know, kind of, kind of written almost not, you know, concurrently in a sense. And Tolkien always said that he didn’t like Narnia because he thought that it was too overtly Christian. And I’ve heard people try to make the argument that ‘Lord of the Rings’ is overtly Christian. And I hate to burst the bubble, guys, but you’re just wrong. There’s nothing overtly Christian about ‘Lord of the Rings.’ There’s no church in it, there’s no faith in it. There’s no Christ figure. There’s none of these things. And honestly, ‘Lord of the Rings,’ if it’s anything, ‘Lord of the Rings’ is overtly pagan.
Posobiec is right about one thing: “The Lord Of The Rings” doesn’t have a Christ figure. It has three.
Tolkien distributes the threefold office of Christ between Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn: prophet, priest, and king.
Gandalf (not a wizard, actually) is an angel sent, literally from the heavens, to Middle-earth to counsel its people. He meets death and returns transformed and renewed. Frodo bears a burden of suffering he did not choose but accepts for the salvation of others. Aragorn is the self-exiled king whose healing hands and rightful claim to a throne can restore a fading kingdom and fallen world.
Yes, a fallen world — where could that concept come from?
Let’s also consider that Frodo’s journey to Mount Doom begins on December 25th and concludes on March 25th, the Feast of Annunciation, the date of Christ’s crucifixion, and the beginning of death’s defeat.